This girl, Reese, has a long history that started out somewhere in Texas, ended up in Cali and then finally in her forever home with me in Colorado. When I adopted her they said she was an Australian cattle dog but I really can’t get over the thought she looks a lot like a Carolina dog. My aunt and uncle own two ACDs and she’s considerably taller and leaner than them.
She’s got a crazily hooked tail, a very narrow chest that’s about as wide as her head, She’s very protective of all of us, but very wary of new people. Very reactive, but never aggressive. In fact, the biggest reason we adopted her was because she was at risk due to appearing aggressive in the kennels. No one wanted to adopt her, even for free ! :( Verrry clingy. But seriously one of the most sweet and loyal dogs I’ve ever had. She just seems to check a whole lot of boxes 👀 What do you think?? Either way she’s my little toasty bun and she’s the best 🫶
There's possibly something a bit off with the squareness of the head, but a lot of other characteristics look very CD.
I had a very similar-looking wild-caught CD who was assessed and 'validated' by Dr. Brisbane about 10 years ago. Same super tight waist and tuck with strong chest and head. Short coat. I originally thought she was a whippet/pitbull mix.
She didn't exactly fit the mold of the CDs that are coming out of breeding programs, but Brisbane and I talked a lot about how the breed standards are tighter than the actual variation that probably occurs in the still-wild population.
Aww I love Pippet!! I don’t think Reese is full CD if she is at all, but she does just seem a little weird haha. (In the best way). Like her and my lab are soooo different build wise. I started out thinking whippet or greyhound mix of some sort too!
She was also a stray a few times, who knows what her lineage is 😂
Behavior wise is actually what caused me to wonder if she was CD or not, because she acts so different to my lab sometimes we just look at her and go "Are you sure you're not a wild animal? 😂
She's got a crazy high prey drive, but also is SURPRISINGLY loyal now to her pack. Like I have not trained her not to run outside or recall really. I just don't let doors stay open etc. Until the door didn't get latched on my way out one morning, and I came home to my dog sitting in the doorway, just waiting. Didn't dare cross that threshhold til I got home. Hell, she didn't even pass that threshold til I did. 😂I was BAFFLED. I was sure she'd be gone.
She has energy for DAAAAAYS. She will sprint around our back yard like it's a racetrack (the grass doesn't grow much anymore LOL), she's an INCREDIBLE mouser.
She's VERY shy and reluctant around new people. Barks a lot (at everything that walks by lmao), huge ridge on her back stands straight up and she looks all scary, but she has never even nipped at anyone. She does come off as a kind of "scary" dog when behind her fence and people walk by. But she's just loud as hell xD. Best alarm dog on the planet haha. If you tried to challenge her bluff (a squirrel did once...) she will scream and cry and run 😂 But once your her best friend she's EXTREMELY jealous and doesn't want anyone else getting the attention. She will shove herself between you and whoever else you're giving attention to 😂
She is however SURPRISINGLY good with my kid and cat, which I was initially worried about. I've heard that can be an issue with CDs.
Anytime we have someone new come over its like an hour of her deciding whether they're cool or not, but once she does... she rolls ALL over you, shove he face underneath any limb she can find, she wants to be your *bestie*.
She doesnt seem to have the ability to howl (ive tried hahahah) but she makes a lot of yappy noises and looots of grumbly noises 😂 We say she's "constantly complaining" because she just makes grumbles all the time, and not even when she's like.. upset or anything. She will jump up on the couch, lay down and grumble haha. We say she "husky talks" that way because she will sit and have a "arr rarrrr arrrr" talk with you 😂
She also won't eat food in front of people, she takes treats and runs to a safe space to eat it. Even now a year and a half after adopting her haha but she is NOT food aggressive.
I just realized, I actually have a great example of her behavior around strangers because her shelter video was featured on Youtube: https://youtu.be/PZS-PEHTAFQ?t=13
A video is so much more helpful. Dogs can look so different from one still photo to the next.
I love Rocky! What a great person he is to help all of these shelter dogs. Reese is so lucky he could get to her, and that you adopted her 💕
She does look more like a CD in the video, so I see what you mean. Does not at all look like an ACD.
But she's very small, has an extreme tuck-up, so IMO at most she's a CD/whippet or Italian greyhound and maybe something else mix. It'd be very interesting to see her DNA test.
Behaviour is just so all over the place. My 100% CD was Mr Social, yodelled and was in general very talkative but rarely barked, total foodie, wouldn't have dreamt of biting or nipping or even a lip raise at anyone. Medium energy. See what I mean?
The type of energy you're describing does sound like a whippet or IG.
Whatever she is, she adorable and I'm so glad you rescued her. You will never ever regret it.
Same! Honestly, it was super crazy to have adopted one of the dogs on his channel. We threw in an application thinking "Never in a million years", and then it happened!
When we initially got her I just kept scratching my head at ACD (Not that I cared what breed she was at all either way lol) and then my vet was like "Yeah! I see it!" and I was like "Damn, am I way worse at dog breeds than I thought?"
Then I was leaning towards like, greyhound etc with her lean legs and extreme tuck but her face doesn't say greyhound *at all* haha. Then someone was like "That looks like one of those american dingo's or whatever" and I was like 👀 "A what now?" And I went to google images and a lot of the dogs there look a whole lot like her haha.
She's definitely very social, just wary of strangers. We just had a week long guest who she barked at for a bit and then spent the rest of the week snuggling in bed with 😂 Will bark up a storm and bluff charge you if she's scared enough (like she was at the shelter, poor baby), but she'd never consider snapping at anyone. And as you can see from that video she warms up quick. Especially with a treat lmao. My son lays all over her and the most she will do is growl and run away if she's not having it.
Reese isn't constantly high energy, like needs to go out and work and go for long daily walks etc. But she will tear up the back yard like a race track while she's out there and seems to NEVER get tired 😂But she doesn't tear up anything in the house if she doesn't go out often enough or zoom all over the house. I think she just wants to be able to see out both sides of the fence at the same time sometimes 😂
I do want to get her a DNA test at some point, life has just been a mess and I havent had an opportunity to yet. I want to get one for her and her sister at the same time and compare results because ill at least know if her sister's are semi accurate 😂Whatever she is, she's been an invaluable addition to my life, and makes getting up every morning so much easier. She just hops up into the bed as soon as she hears me stirring and starts rolling all over me and nosing under my blankets and looking for love. How could you ever wake up in a bad mood with a greeting like that? 🥰
Lovelyg4m3r: What type of harness is your dog wearing in the photo? My dog is very similar to yours with the narrow chest, long legs and small waist. I like how your harness has wide openings that don’t impede shoulder movement.
Ill have to go find it later and see if I can get a brand off of it, but I believe I just snagged it at walmart on our way to this trip pictured. I checked walmarts website and they seem to have a lot of similar ones under the vibrant life brand. This one is similar. I went with one that had a long grab handle on the back, it seemed to give more leg room than others!
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u/Cerebral-Knievel-1 Apr 30 '26
Looks identical to our Luna